After Hours
by libbyluv56
Summary: Alex is having trouble sleeping and needs to blow off some steam. Luckily Owens there to help.
1. Chapter 1

It had been several hours since the sun had gone down. Everyone in Division was asleep for the night. Alex hadn't realized how creepy the place could be when all the lights went out at night.

The computer screens were all black, the light touch Birkhoff and Sonya always brought missing. Ryan wasn't in his office, Micheal not standing tall taking care of ops.

Alex kept a steady pace towards the training room, feeling slightly exposed in the room. For the past few nights she had been unable to sleep, her eyes closing but her body never resting. Most of this was to do with Sean and his official joining of Division. Though the whole transition had happened weeks ago, she was still on edge. It was her fault he was here. Sean was one of the most prestigious Navy Seals and now the whole world believed him to be a terrorist.

And it was all Alex's fault.

Even though Sean seemed to be adjusting fairly well, he now no longer had a choice. He couldn't choose to leave this place, nor could he choose to leave Alex. He was stuck here, just like the rest of them. He was stuck with Alex.

So tonight, just like every other night before, she found herself in the training room. Her haired pulled up high and her fists wrapped, whaling on whatever punching bag she decided to make her victim.

"Can't sleep?"

Alex hit the punching bag again, this time sending it several inches away from her body before it flew back into her awaiting hands.

Owen.

"What gave me away?" Alex sassed, whipping the beads of sweat from her brow and than turning to face the blond.

Owen's lips turned up into a small smile, the amusement unfortunetely never reaching his eyes. Instead those crystal blue eye's expressed his worry.

Alex turned away from him when he didn't answer, going to unwrap her hands.

"Well you're in luck because I could use some stress therapy too," Owen challenged, waiting to see how Alex reacted.

Her eyes snapped to his, "I'm not stressed."

"No, obviously not," sarcasm dripped from his voice, furthering Alex's aggression.

"Fine, I'll take you." Alex snapped, "how do you wanna do this?"

Owen pondered it for a moment, "basic hand to hand."

"Fine with me," Alex muttered, taking a stance and putting her firsts up.

Owen sized her up for a moment, taking in everything, from her posture to her feet position. Everything he needed to know was in those two things, which was her dominate hand, how her first swing would play out. He could see her first move before she had even made it.

Owen smirked, readying himself, "ladies first."

He was taken off guard when she swung for him, just barely missing her swing. He stumbled back, not expecting her to use her left hand for the first punch, especially since it was obvious she had been right handed.

Alex went right for him again, not giving him the chance to recover, "did you honestly think I hadn't realized what you were doing. I can tell when someone is trying to read me."

Owen dodged and blocked her punches with ease once he was back on his guard she was quicker than he had thought. It brought a smirk to his face, he would make a mental note to train with Alex more often. Pretty quickly he found himself swinging at her every now and then but she dodged with ease. He didn't really feel the need to go all out on her. For now he was just taking her punches, knowing full well this was exactly what she needed right now. A punching bag that would put up a fight.

Slowly but surely she began to get sloppy, her punches get less and less aggressive Once more she swung at Owen, this time Owen blocked and used her power against her, with a quick jab to her exposed stomach Alex found herself on the ground, dizzy.

"You didn't think I was going to let you win did you?" Owen asked, offering a hand to the girl who was so obviously winded after his blow. He hadn't even hit her THAT hard, not as hard as he would hit a real opponent.

"I thought I was winning," Alex grunted, accepting his hand.

"You're quick but sloppy. You let yourself get worn down to fast," Owen admitted, "I just had to wait for an opening."

Alex didn't say anything more, stepping away from him and going to her work out bag. Though the training session was helpful, she was still frustrated. Not only because of Sean anymore but now because she had lost to Owen.

"You alright?" Owen asked, not daring to follow after her as she hoisted the bag onto her shoulder. Owen was well-aware of his third-wheel presence but still he wanted to help Alex just as he had done in the past for Nikita. It was no wonder the two of them were so close, they were so similar in Owen's eyes.

Owen could see the things that Alex and Sean couldn't see. Sean was overbearing, he didn't see Alex in the same light as Owen. Alex like he, had a tragic past. Though Owen knew only a few details, he could see it was something Alex was ashamed of showing Sean.

Sean wasn't like her, he had a good name, honor. Alex had all that stripped from her and she had absolutely no choice in the matter. She couldn't open up to Sean in the way he wanted her too.

"I don't want to talk about it," Alex asked, grabbing her water bottle and downing the rest of it's contents in one giant gulp.

Owen understood, deciding to not press it. He didn't know Alex as well as he wished, she still didn't open up to him that much. They had had there moments, between the butterflies and his past but Alex still held back on him. Unlike Sean, Owen knew how to stand back and wait, which was exactly what Alex needed from Sean. Patience.

So instead, Owen would drop the subject and let Alex come to him, that is if she even wanted to. So for now he would try to crack a joke and lighten the mood.

"Well if it makes you feel any better, you pack one hell of a punch when you're pissed," Owen looked down at his arms, examining the bruises that were already beginning to form on his tan skin. There was a small pause between the two of them, Owen's words hanging in the air. Alex didn't laugh or crack a smile, she was looking at the clock that told her it was half past midnight.

"Owen-"

"Yeah?" He watched her for a second, wondering what it was that was going to come from her mouth.

"Thank you."

"Don't worry about it, just get some sleep. You look like hell," Owen admitted, which finally caused a single laugh to erupt from her throat.

"I'll try," though she knew she couldn't go back to sleep. She would have to go back and climb into bed with Sean. The second her head hit that pillow her mind would start racing again and the guilt would take over.

Owen left her be and Alex stayed put for a few minutes before finally deciding to shower and try to sleep. When she did finally craw back into her bed next to Sean who had been snoring lightly, her mind wondered to Owen. She had never taken to someone quite so easily, he wasn't pushy like everyone else. He was patient and he understood without even having to be told.

As she thought about him more and more, she began to realize that he had never told her why he had been awake.

She would have to ask him in the morning.

Regardless she was happy he had spared with her. Exhaustion had finally set in and a deep sleep took over Alex for the first time in weeks.


	2. Chapter 2

When Alex's eyes finally fluttered opened she was met with the very familiar brown eyes.

"Morning," Sean had a dreamy look on his face, he was admiring her beauty. A smile perked up on his lips, waking up next to Alex every morning was easily the best part about joining Division.

"Morning," Alex was exchausted, though she tried not to let her voice show it. Sean didn't pick up on it, didn't question it. Instead he just leaned in and placed a few quick kisses on her lips.

"Where did you go last night?" Sean asked. Alex tensed, she had hope he hadn't heard her get up.

She tried to shrug it off, "I was just having trouble sleeping so I just went roaming."

"You feeling alright?" Sean's hands ghosted across her skin in attempts to relax her. Alex just sighed, pulling away from him caloused hands.

She sat up on the bed, hunched over. Sean followed her, curious to know why she pulled away from him, "Alex?"

"I'm going to get some breakfast," she stood up and left Sean in bed. Heading out to the cafertieria.

The place was fairly empty, Sean had always loved getting up early, which probably came from his training as a Navy Seal.

All of her friends were missing, she was sure Nikita and Micheal were probably in ops with Birkhoff and Sonya. Ryan was most likely in his office and Owen was probably still passed out somewhere.

She sat with some of the newer recruits, well, recruits who hadn't graduated before everything that went down with Percy. They were still going through daily training but most likely they would never 'graduate.' At least not in Percy's sense.

Some of them exchanged a few words with her but nothing more. Alex much prefered eating her breakfast in silence anyway, gave her some time to clear her head.

When she was finished and had made her way to ops, she realized that her assumptions had been wrong.

Nikita and Micheal were no where in sight, instead it was Owen with Birkhoff and everything seemed completely mellow.

"What's up?" Alex asked as she joined the two, "where's Micheal and Nikita?"

"Day off," Birkhoff stated, "it's been really quiet the last two days, I figured they needed it. Plus you and Owen are more than qualified to handle a few problems."

Alex rolled her eyes, taking a seat and scooting over to Birkoff, "Shadowbot hasn't found anything?"

Birkhoff shook his head, leaning back in his chair.

"I don't like it, it's too quiet." Owen stated with obvious uneasyness.

"Well, some peace and quiet might do us all a little good. With Sean shot and Micheal's hand...some downtime for everyone is always good." Alex admitted. Not only that but she had been completely exhausted. She wasn't sure she could handle a mission in her current state.

Alex stood from her seat, moving to leave the two boys to their business when something flagged up on the screen.

"We got something," Sonya called from a few feet away, "One of the Dirty Thirty, Ashley Berg. She's a...reaper."

She looked up at Alex and Owen, confusion in her eyes.

"She took my place after I became a Guardian," Owen admited, barely recognizing the name that Percy had told him many years before.

"She's in Canada. She got reckless and got caught on a traffic camera," Birkhoff explained, zooming in on a picture of the women.

"Should we call Nikita?" Sonya questioned, looking at Birkhoff for the answer.

Alex sighed, "no, Owen and I can handle it. How soon can you get us out there Birkhoff?"

"There's a jet leaving in forty five minutes. That gives you ten to pack and be ready."

Alex's eyes met Owen's and the two nodded at eachother, "let's go."

The two of them made their way to the weapon centers both of them holding their head high. Alex looked at Owen, who seemed deep in thought, "what do you know about this other reaper?"

"I know she's dangerious," Owen admited, grabbing a 9 mm and loading it with ease. He pulled his shirt up, exposing his back to Alex before shoving it into the back of his pants.

"She's a highly trained cleaned trainer. It's her job to be emotionally unattached. She isn't just going to switch sides on a whim."

Alex nodded, grabbing her own 9 mm and a black blade. She looked up to meet Owen's gaze, "it was sloppy of her to get caught on camera."

Owen agree'd, "she wants to be found."

"But why now?"

Owen frowned, "I guess we will find out soon enough."


	3. Chapter 3

"So how do you suggest we find this girl?" Alex watched the ex-reaper as he scanned the surrondings. The two of them had arrived in Canada a few short hours later and now found themselves in the exact spot where Emily had stood only hours before. The problem being nothing else had showed up on her since the two departed. No news report that might be division, no more traffic camera's. This was all the two of them had to run off of.

"We don't. She finds us." Owen stated, walking ahead of the young Russian women.

"What?" Alex questioned, chasing after him.

"And you guys think I'm the idiot," Owen teased, "there's a reason why she came on the grid and than just vanished. She wanted us to come looking for her. Now it's just a matter of when she will strike."

"Do you think Amanda-"

"I wouldn't doubt it," Owen finished before even hearing what Alex had to say. The two of them caught the others eyes.

"Maybe we should get back up, if it is Amanda we are dealing with than the two of us won't be enough," Alex was questioning her own abilities and maybe even a little of Owen's. Since getting shot, she hadn't been top notch. Well, not 100 percent, she could still handle her own but not like before. Plus with her current lack of sleep, she was really only at 75 percent at best.

Then there was also the matter of Owen, who can pack a deadly punch but was far more impulsive than Alex was. He liked to get in and get the job done, risking the mission completely with his brute force. Not to mention if they did come into contact with Amanda, all it would take is a few sentances and Owen's brain would be fried and she'd be on her own.

"No, they'll just get in our way," Alex's eyes lingered on Owen for a second, scanning him over. Something had been off about him, ever since the two left Division he had been giving her the cold shoulder.

He was holding onto something and she couldn't figure out what.

"Owen if we run into Amanda she could-"

"I can take care of myself Alex," Owen bit back, the icy look sending a chill down Alex's spine.

She didn't press the issue, instead following after Owen when he began to walk away. She trailed behind by a few feet, giving him some space. He hadn't lashed out on her like that before, she hadn't seen him lash out like that ever in front of her. She trusted him to a certian extent but not because they had bonded.

She trusted him because she trusted Nikita. Not because she was confident in Owen's abilities or even his choices. If Nikita said he was good, than Alex believed her.

Owen let out a groan of irratation, "come on, lets get some food. We aren't going to find a trail to follow so were just wasting our time, besides I'm starving."

Alex took this as her cue to rejoin him, picking up her pace and finding herself beside him.

The two of them entered a small local resturant, both heading for the corner booth in the darkest corner of the place.

They sat acrossed from eachother, Owen facing the door and Alex facing Owen. The two of them didn't speak, at least not until a waitress came up.

"Well, goodafternoon," the waitress was obviously checking out Owen but Alex didn't acknolege it. Instead she focused on the menu's she sat down infront of the two of them.

"Can I get the two of you anything to start? A drink perhaps?"

"Water," Owen grumbled, not even looking at the women.

The women turned to Alex and Alex offered her a smile, "water for me too please."

She nodded and was gone just like that. Alex watched Owen for a second as his eye's scanned over the menu. She was sure something was wrong but still, she didn't know how to get him to spill.

Instead she let out a sigh, giving up on him and deciding on her own meal choice.

When the waitress returned, they both ordered and were left in peace, this time without menu's to distract the two of them.

It grew uncomfortable when silence engulfed them. Now they had to look at eachother and acknoledge eachother.

"So, what were you doing up last night?" Alex asked, folding her hands together on the table and leaning forward.

"Couldn't sleep, same as you," Owen said quite simply, his eyes latching onto her own. They sat like this for a second, just staring at eachother, both of them just examining the other. It was more of a stare down in Alex's eyes, at least that's how she felt at first. Both of them were trying to see who would break first, who was stronger than the other. Than again that could have just been her competitive nature getting the best of her.

But very quickly Alex grew uncomfortable under his gaze, for some reason she felt exposed, open like a sore wound. She let her eyes shift to the table, her fingers begining to fiddle together. Never before had someone made her so uncomfortable and she couldn't explain why.

"What's wrong?" Owen asked, curious over her sudden change of attitude.

"I should ask you that," Alex muttered, trying to switch the subject onto him.

He watched her, waiting for her to further explain what she meant but when she didn't, he pressed the subject, "and why do you say that?"

Alex looked up at him, her face once again back to it's stone expression, "you're hiding something from me. You've been acting odd this whole time. I know I'm not Nikita but if my partner in the field is holding vital information on the mission from me, well, I'd like to know about it."

A silence fell on them and Owen was suddenly laughing, shaking his head at her. It threw her off gaurd and she crossed her arms over her chest in defence, "I'm sorry but what's funny?"

Owen stopped laughing but the smile didn't leave his face, "you know, you and Nikita have a lot in common. I didn't think I'd meet anyone as bossy as her."

Alex rolled her eyes at him but Owen didn't try to hide his amusement. Thankfully their food came and the two didn't need to speak any longer, which Alex was happy with because she was once again frustrated with Mr. Elliot.

Owen for whatever reason grabbed his knife and began to make a cutting movement in the air. Earning him a questioning look from Alex, "what are you doing?"

"Trying to cut the tension."

Alex couldn't help but smile at his terrible joke, which Owen took as a sign he could eat without having her eyes burning death holes into his head.

The two of them munched down their food, Owen eating much quicker than Alex, who really only snacked and picked at her food.

Owen was done long before Alex, who was more or less just moving her food around on her plate. He decided that the girl already had enough to worry about and decided to confess up.

"I knew Ashley," Owen admited, "we were trained together."

She had been right and it felt a little gratifying. She knew not to gloat though, or press him to continue because then he'd never finish. So instead she stayed silent, letting him know she was listening.

Owen sighed, leaning back in his seat, "she was a field agent. I thought she died in action three years ago."

"Yeah, well, Percy had loved secrets and lies," Alex noted, finally pushing her plate away.

"Something still isn't right though," Owen explained, "she wouldn't come on the grid unless she had too."

Alex perked up, "do you think she's in danger?"

There was a worried look in Owen's eyes, she wondered if this Ashley women had been friends with Owen or if the two of them had ever interacted. It seemed as though they had by his current expressions but Alex didn't want to push. It was better that way.

Owen stood up from his seat, shrugged his jacket back on, "I don't know but I don't think she would willingly go to division for help."

Alex nodded, following Owen's lead, "well, we better start looking for her then."

_**So I just wanted to say thank you for all the amazing feedback first off. This was originally going to be like just a one chapter thing but it got such good feedback that I decided to continue.**_

_**I'd also like to state that I am really sorry if there are a ton of grammer errors, I REALLY hate proofreading my own work so usually I don't catch everything.**_

_**And also, sorry for the slow update, work has been killing me but tonights episode inspired me. Am I the only one who felt like the whole scene at the end with Sean and Alex was really odd. Like Alex seemed so emotionless when she was like "you had my back and Nikita didn't."**_

_**It just didn't feel right AT ALL.**_


End file.
